Programs like the Women’s Mentoring Network are important to two members of UT faculty and administration because it offers something they didn’t experience as young women in a university setting — the chance to look to a female role model.
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Sally McMillan will serve as keynote speaker for the program’s second-annual kick-off reception on Feb. 10.
“As a college student, I really didn’t have very many women mentors to look to,” McMillan said. “Many of my faculty members were men. Many of the people working in my field were men.”
Denise Harvey, clinical assistant professor in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, feels the same way. Memories of this went through her mind as she thought about participating in the program during its first semester in spring 2009.
“I thought about when I was in graduate school and how I didn’t have a lot of women mentors and how it would be a good thing to mentor young scholars at UT,” Harvey said.
McMillan said the Women’s Mentoring Network is important for students because it expedites early careers.
“I think that the earlier a young woman can establish one of those kind of relationships, the more she can learn and the more she can get herself planted in places that are a good fit for her skills and interests,” she said.
It also allows students to see women in leadership positions and think about if they would want to become leaders themselves, McMillan said.
Going further, Harvey said it also adds an intimate student-faculty relationship that usually is not established.
“We need to see examples of successful women,” she said. “We also need to have the connection, the personal connection, between administrations and faculty persons and students that you don’t normally get in a classroom.”
Both McMillan and Harvey called the mentor-mentee relationship a “two-way street” for learning.
Harvey said she benefitted from working with an international student, helping her become accustomed to the university.
“I think she benefitted from an administrator that works on campus who was interested in her as an individual as well as interested in the type of research she was doing,” Harvey said.
And even though their scheduled time with the program is over, Harvey and her mentee still maintain the relationship.
“They did do a good job of matching us,” she said.
Kate Phelps, senior in communication studies, agreed when discussing her mentor-mentee relationship with Associate Vice Provost Ruth Darling, another bond that was forged in spring 2009 and continues past its contracted end.
It was thanks to Darling, Phelps said, that her interest in student affairs as a career field intensified.
“I think, before I met with Dr. Darling, I kind of saw student affairs as what I had been involved with in college, but after meeting with Dr. Darling, I saw the broader picture of student affairs,” Phelps said.
Phelps looked into assessments of the university, such as retention rates and student interests.
The two still meet, and Darling serves as one of Phelps’ graduate school recommendations.
The program started in spring 2009, thanks to a grant from the UT Alliance of Women Philanthropists, said Michele Stauffer, director of student orientation and leadership development.
“Since our office focuses on leadership, we wanted to offer a program to encourage the leadership development of young women on campus,” Stauffer said. “We had seen similar programs at other institutions and wanted to offer the same quality program here for students and faculty/staff to connect.”
Stauffer’s description of the “ideal relationship” between a mentor and a mentee is one that lasts beyond the semester.
“The great thing about this program is that the relationship is up to the mentor and mentee,” Stauffer said. “We encourage them to meet at least once a month to connect with each other, but many pairs last year met multiple times and participated in various events together.”
Students and mentors are matched up based on interests and areas of study.
“So that they have something in common when they first meet,” she said.
Demand is high for students, she said, but the program needs more mentors.
This is not a new problem. According to minutes from a Feb. 5, 2009, Commission for Women meeting, the mentee enrollment was so large it had to be capped last year.
The Women’s Mentoring Network kick-off will take place on Feb. 10 at the Baker Center’s Toyota Auditorium from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.